Treatment of mental disorders and the course of COVID-19
, 1, 1
Abstract
Introduction: Psychiatric patients are an interesting group due to the risk of mental exacerbation during COVID-19
(coronavirus disease 2019). Most patients with severe mental disorders require long-term care in specialized
centres. As a result, such patients are at increased risk of acquiring infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
This study evaluated the potential association between mental disorder treatment and the course of COVID-19.
Material and methods: The study is a retrospective analysis of data collected from 107 men with mental
disorders, aged 30–82 years, inhabitants of nursing homes who have been receiving drugs acting on the
central nervous system for at least one year and were diagnosed with COVID-19 between September
2020 and January 2021.
Results: More than 80% of patients experienced elevated body temperature during COVID-19. 11 patients
required hospitalization due to severe COVID-19 course; one of them died. The most common mental
disorder diagnosis included schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders, and mental retardation.
A significantly higher frequency of increased body temperature was observed in patients treated with
anxiolytics (particularly in the subgroup who received hydroxyzine treatment).
Conclusions: The course of COVID-19 was mild in most patients (almost 90% of the studied population)
and did not negatively affect their mental condition. Special care received by the patients resulted in early
diagnosis of COVID-19 and a very low mortality rate. Treatment with hydroxyzine significantly influenced
the incidence of increased body temperature during the course of COVID-19.
Keywords: Mental disordersCOVID-19antipsychoticsschizophreniaanxiolytics
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